Ant International plans to hire more people in the upcoming four years, up to 2028, and generate over 500 new job opportunities in the first year.

The majority of newly created positions will have a tech focus, in line with the company's goal of accelerating global commerce and inclusion through innovation and technology. The department of technology and development, which employs a variety of software development engineers, is the largest team. It is followed by the teams for product and design, data science, and risk control. The corporation will allocate resources to training, mentoring, and exposure to its global companies in order to develop and nurture these tech talent.

According to Douglas Feagin, President of Ant International, the company's new Digital Business Center is scheduled to relocate by 2025 to The Exchange 106, located in the center of the Tun Razak Exchange financial and commercial district.

"The opening of the new Digital Business Center in Malaysia by Ant International is truly commended as such an initiative plays an important role for the local tech talents to thrive in its global businesses in the digital industry," stated Ts. Mahadhir Aziz, Chief Executive Officer of the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). This will establish Malaysia as the ASEAN's digital hub and lead to an increase in jobs and investment possibilities.

This demonstrates their dedication to making Malaysia their first choice in their quest to advance the digital economy. We extend our unwavering support to Ant International and congratulate them on this outstanding accomplishment.

Ant International is a subsidiary of Ant Group, one of the top open internet platforms in the world, with origins dating back to Alipay in 2004. Ant International is made up of four main companies:

• Alipay+ Cross-Border Mobile Payment Service enables merchants to expand cross-border consumer engagement and digital marketing while connecting over 88 million merchants to 1.5 billion consumer accounts across over 25 e-wallets and banking apps in 57 countries and regions. This allows consumers to travel and make payments internationally without worry. The national QR code for Malaysia, DuitNow QR, is connected with Alipay+.

Antom Merchant Payment Services facilitates digital commerce between international merchants and consumers in Asia and other regions. WorldFirst offers digital payment and banking services for international trade. With its World Account, SMEs has helped over a million SMEs expand globally. By 2024, it hopes to assist SMEs in Malaysia.
• The Monetary Authority of Singapore oversees ANEXT Bank, a digital wholesale bank that specializes in providing SMEs with simple and easy access to financial services.

"After ten years of contributing to the local fintech industry, we're excited to start the next chapter of our journey in Malaysia. Now, we look towards the future, one that is more global, more connected, more inclusive, and with more exciting ways of doing business," Mr. Feagin stated."With the Malaysian government promoting tech skills development and positioning Malaysia as an innovation hub, we believe that together with partners like MDEC, we can harness local tech talents to significantly accelerate the impact that our businesses can make, both locally and globally. Tech and innovation are at the core of Ant International."

Since its arrival in Malaysia in 2014, Ant International has worked with regional partners to foster a thriving fintech industry that benefits the country's citizens by facilitating digital payments that are more convenient, boosting digital inclusion, and generating revenue for regional companies.

For instance, by working with TNG Digital, Ant International has facilitated international payments for Touch 'n Go eWallet customers in addition to promoting the growth of Malaysia's digital economy and mobile wallet ecosystem. Local businesses benefited from the boom in travel around Chinese New Year 2024 thanks to the increased traffic brought in by Ant International's cross-border mobile payments, marketing, and digitalization platform, Alipay+. During this time, the number of transactions and expenditure by Alipay+ payment partner app users at DuitNow QR merchants climbed 2.5 times.

Ant International launched Alipay+ D-store, an all-in-one solution that makes it simple for brick-and-mortar retailers to digitize their business processes and link with online channels, in Malaysia at the end of 2022 in support of MSME digitalization. Several local retailers have embraced Alipay+ D-store, such as Coolblog, which is well-known for its nostalgic products for Malaysian childhood. To improve efficiency and expand their client base, Coolblog created an in-app store on Touch 'n Go eWallet and Alipay.

A strategic partnership between Ant International and Capital A has been formed across the company's entire business ecosystem, which includes AirAsia, AirAsia MOVE, and BigPay. The partnership aims to address global challenges by promoting inclusive and sustainable impact, which includes advancing digital inclusion, cultivating digital talent, and promoting a sustainable travel program. While BigPay is set to become Alipay+'s newest payment partner, AirAsia MOVE will collaborate with Ant International to incorporate Alipay+ e-wallets as payment choices within the MOVE's payment flows.

In order to foster and inspire tech talent and digital leaders, Ant International will continue working with regional partners to create tech talent in Malaysia. One such program is 10x1000, an open, worldwide learning community.With the help of partners such as TNG Digital, MDEC, and the Fintech Association of Malaysia, over 120 fintech leaders—more than one-third of whom are female—have finished the program.

"Those who join our team will be a part of our mission to shape the future of fintech and commerce, where every person and every business can thrive, and will get firsthand access to global fintech innovation and collaborations." By prioritizing the growth and development of our workforce, we not only enhance our teams but also make a valuable contribution to the development and progress of the fintech sector in Malaysia, stated Feagin.